OHL Alumni Central

Is Great Britain’s Elite Ice Hockey League just using Ontario Hockey League grads for their fists? The EIHL typically has more than a few OHL alumni among the top ten scorers in the league. This year, there are just two in the top 20 with approximately 10 games to go in the regular season. These two, Mike Ramsay and Corey Neilson, fall in the 16th and 20th position. Ramsay, a player who was used sparingly by the Peterborough Petes over two partial seasons and Neilson, a 35 year old defenseman who last played for the Barrie Colts in 1997.

Yet, when it comes to time spent in the box, seven the OHL can lay claim to seven of the top 20, including three of the top five. Derek Campbell is the highest, sitting in second place with 209 PIM in just 44 games, a 4.75 PIM/GM pace. However, he doesn’t hold a candle to league leader Chris Frank of the Cardif Devils who has 286 PIM in 42 games – a 6.81 PIM per game pace!

It’s not that the British Isles are developing better talent. Just three of the top 20 point getters are from Great Britain and one includes Corey Neilson. Neilson is Canadian born but has since gotten his UK citizenship. For the most part, it’s just the way it goes in European hockey. It’s a transient hockey world and by next year at this time, OHL boys could be clogging the scoring race.

Here’s a quick breakdown of the players involved:

Top Scorers:

Mike Ramsay is tied for 16th wit 47 points in just 33 games, not bad for a guy who totaled just 5 goals with the Petes. Ramsay played with Peterborough for parts of the 2001-02 and 2002-03 season. He moved on to the QMJHL where he achieved greater success. This is Mike’s first year with the Sheffield Steelers of the EIHL.

Corey Neilson is in his sixth year with the Nottingham Panthers and truly leads by example. Neilson has also been the coach of the team for the past four years. The defenseman has 45 points in 45 games to rank him at the edge of the top 20. Ironically, his 81 PIM actually tied him for the 20th in that race, as well. Corey played in the Ontario Hockey League from 1993-94 to 1996-97 with the North Bay Centennials, Detroit Whalers and Barrie Colts.

Top Bad Boys:

Derek Campbell sits in second with 209 PIM in 44 games as a member of the Hull Stingrays. This his sixth year in the EIHL and first with Hull. Campbell played four years in the OHL from 1997-98 to 2000-01 with the Belleville Bulls, Owen Sound Platers and Kingston Frontenacs.

No surprise to Kitchener Rangers fans, Adam Keefe holds down the number 4 spot with 164 PIM in 41 games with the Belfast Giants. Keefe is in his first year in the EIHL and already has a ‘A’ on his jersey. Adam played in the Ontario Hockey League from 2000-01 to 2004-05 with the Sudbury Wolves and Kitchener.

A position behind Keefe is Colt King with 135 PIM in 41 games with the Sheffield Steelers. This is Colt’s first season in the EIHL. He played in the OHL from 1999-00 to 2003-04 with what seems like half the league. King wore the OHL jersey’s of the Guelph Storm, North Bay Centennials, Saginaw Spirit, Oshawa Generals, Sault Ste. Marie Greyhounds and Sarnia Sting.

Frantisek Bakrlik is tied for 12th with 90 PIM in 48 games. It’ll be interesting to see how many regular season games Bakrlik ends up playing. The Fife Flyers are his third team this season in the EIHL and it looks like he’s picked up a few extra games due to scheduling differences at the time of each of his trades. Frantisek played in the OHL in 2000-01 and 2001-02 with the Barrie Colts and Sarnia Sting. This is his first year in the EIHL.

Darryl Lloyd is in 15th with 88 PIM in 37 games with the Belfast Giants. Lloyd is in his first season in the EIHL and is currently injured. Darryl played three seasons with the Windsor Spitfires from 2001-02 to 2003-04.

Drew Bannister falls in 17th spot with 84 PIM in 40 games with the Braehead Clan. Bannister will turn 38 in a few months and began his OHL career way back in 1990. He played four seasons with the Sault Ste. Marie Greyhounds from 1990-91 to 1993-94. A second round pick of the Tampa Bay Lightning in 1992, Bannister has 176 NHL games under his belt, including playoffs. This is his second year in the EIHL and first with the Clan.

Just a minute behind Bannister is Sylvain Cloutier of the Hull Stingrays. Cloutier has 83 minutes in 41 games. This is Cloutier’s fifth EIHL season and third with the Stingrays. Like Corey Neilson with Nottingham, Sylvain is also the coach of the team and is in the third year of that position. Cloutier played three years in the OHL with the Guelph Storm from 1991-92 to 1993-94. A veteran of seven NHL games, all with the Chicago Blackhawks in 1998-99.

With Great Britain broken down into it’s individual countries (England, Scotland, Ireland, Wales), Canadian players outnumber any other nationality in Great Britain’s Elite Ice Hockey League. According to EliteProspects.com, there are currently 57 Canadians, topping England which has 55. Therefore, it’s not all that shocking that three of the top ten and four of the top twenty in penalty minutes are Ontario Hockey League grads (all numbers are as of October 27, 2011).

Derek Campbell of the Hull Stingrays is no stranger to the penalty box but has also contributed nearly a point per game in his 260+ EIHL games since joining the league for the 2006-07 season. Campbell played four years in the Ontario Hockey League from 1996-97 to 2000-01. He played his first two with the Belleville Bulls, his third with the Owen Sound Platers and his final season with the Kingston Frontenacs. He currently leads the EIHL in PIM with 88 in 13 games. He also has 10 points in that time.

Colt King sits tied for third with 64 PIM in 14 games with the Sheffield Steelers. This is Colt’s first season in the EIHL after seven years in North America with teams in the ECHL, UHL, CHL and AHL. King played five seasons in the Ontario Hockey League from 1999-00 to 2003-04 with the Guelph Storm, North Bay Centennials, Saginaw Spirit, Oshawa Generals, Sault Ste. Marie Greyhounds and Sarnia Sting. Colt played this past season with the Rapid City Rush of the CHL, wearing the ‘A’ on his jersey. Like Campbell, he also can help out in the offensive department, scoring five and assisting on four, so far this season.

Adam Keefe is another newbie to the EIHL. Keefe sits in seventh with 55 PIM in 14 games with the Belfast Giants. Adam played five seasons from 2000-01 to 2004-05 in the Ontario Hockey League with the Sudbury Wolves and Kitchener Rangers. He brings a ton of American Hockey League experience to a league that is producing a higher quality game each year.

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Darryl Lloyd is also new to the EIHL. In his first season with the Belfast Giants, Lloyd currently sits in 18th position with 36 PIM in 14 games. Darryl has spent the past five years in the ECHL with the last two as a member of the Kalamazoo Wings. Although providing a physical presence, Darryl also contributed 51 points in 72 games in 2010-11. Lloyd played three seasons in the Ontario Hockey League from 2001-02 to 2003-04, all with the Windsor Spitfires.

Of course, Canadians are also in the top 20 scorers in this exciting league. Among them are Ontario Hockey League grads. Stay tuned to OHL Alumni Central as we profile these players in the near future.

The Belfast Giants of Great Britain’s Elite Ice Hockey League have started the 2011-12 season with a bang, going 11-1 with an additional shootout loss. Despite this, the team sits just three points ahead of the Nottingham Panthers atop the league. The team is on track to challenge for the league championship, something they accomplished in 2009-10.

Adam Keefe has fit right in with the Giants. The Ontario Hockey League grad has brought his tough brand of hockey to Ireland and currently sits seventh in the EIHL in penalty minutes. Keefe wears the ‘A’ on his jersey. Another OHL Alumnus, Jeremy Rebek (Owen Sound Platers) is the team captain.

Adam played in the Ontario Hockey League for five years from 2000-01 to 2004-05. He began with the Sudbury Wolves and moved over the Kitchener Rangers during his second season. In his first full season with Kitchener, 2002-03, the team won the Robertson Cup and the Memorial Cup.

Undrafted, Keefe has toiled in the AHL and ECHL since 2005-06. This past season, 2010-11, started with the Toledo Walleye of the ECHL but saw Adam play 40 games with the AHL’s Grand Rapids Griffins.

With six points already this season, Keefe is on pace to have his best offensive season since entering professional hockey in 2005-06. That season, with the Toledo Storm of the ECHL, Adam contributed 21 points in just 28 games while sitting out 174 minutes in the penalty box. He also spent 31 games with the AHL’s Manitoba Moose that season, with much lower offensive results.

Adam Keefe (#24 in blue) doing what he loves to do most.

A few days ago, we posted about London Knight’s alumnus, Danny Bois. Danny’s 913 regular season penalty minutes were by far a London Knights career standard. Adam Keefe, a former Sudbury Wolve and Kitchener Ranger, tops Bois with 975 career Ontario Hockey League regular season penalty minutes.

Adam Keefe played in the Ontario Hockey League for one more season than Danny Bois at five. He played from 2000-01 to 2004-05, beginning with the Sudbury Wolves and switching over to the Kitchener Rangers during the 2001-02 season. In his third season, he was a part of the Kitchener team that won the Hamilton Spectator as the regular season leader in the Ontario Hockey League, the Robertson Cup as Ontario Hockey League playoff champion as well as the being the recipient of the Memorial Cup.

Adam enters the 2010-11 season as a returning member of the Toledo Walleye of the East Coast Hockey League. This past season, Keefe appeared in just 24 regular season games for Toledo due to injury. He played four playoff games for the Walleye and had four goals, mostly from a hat-trick against Charlotte.

Keefe started his professional career in Toledo after graduating from the Ontario Hockey League. In 2005-06, he split his season between the Toledo Storm of the ECHL and the Manitoba Moose of the AHL. Adam has since played for the Victoria Salmon Kings of the ECHL, the Grand Rapids Griffins of the AHL and the San Antonio Rampage of the AHL before returning to Northern Ohio.

Older brother Sheldon was an Ontario Hockey League scoring machine with Toronto St. Michael’s Majors and the Barrie Colts. He was a second round draft pick of the Tampa Bay Lightning but saw only 125 games in the National Hockey League and dropped away from professional hockey after the 2004-05 season.

Check out Adam Keefe’s profile page at the Toledo Walleye official website.

Adam is also featured in a previous post at OHL Alumni Central about the 2002-03 Memorial Cup winning Kitchener Rangers.